The Bow
by WolfKomoki
Summary: Magic is not the only secret that Merlin keeps from Arthur. Merlin is also skilled in archery, and defending himself with a dagger. Arthur discovers that not only is Merlin a skilled archer, he's skilled in hand to hand combat with a dagger. When could Merlin have possibly picked up these skills?
1. Chapter 1

**Merlin is owned by The BBC.**  
 **A/n: Merlin's past is very different in this au.**  
 **Hunith and Merlin lived in the woods in Ealdor. They were too poor to be able to buy themselves a home, so they lived in the woods. Will gives Merlin his first crossbow on his thirteenth birthday. Balinor had taught Hunith to defend herself with a dagger, and after he left, Hunith decided to teach Merlin to defend himself with a dagger. Merlin had found a book on archery, and he had the basics of the skill down. He teaches himself to shoot a crossbow after that. Merlin had gone down to the blacksmith to get a custom crossbow made for him. When Hunith told Merlin that she wanted him to leave for Camelot, he gives Hunith the crossbow that Will had given him for his birthday, and he teachers her how to hunt.**

Merlin grabbed his crossbow and arrows. He made a cut on the back of his shirt to place his crossbow in so that he could carry it. He made a cut on the right sleeve to conceal a dagger, should he not be able to reach his bow in time. He used his sleeves to conceal the dagger in case of emergency. When Merlin was younger, and he lived in Ealdor, Hunith taught him to defend himself with a blade.

Hunith and Merlin slept in the woods, as they were too poor to afford a place to live. Will had given Merlin a crossbow and some arrows for his birthday, and Merlin has kept the bow ever since. While browsing the village library, Merlin found a book on archery. After checking out the book and reading it, Merlin had the basics of shooting a crossbow down.

It took a year before Merlin became good at using it, though. When Merlin became skilled in archery, he started hunting for food. Gone were the days where he and his mother would trade for food, which was something that Merlin was grateful for. When Hunith told Merlin that she wanted him to leave for Camelot, Merlin grabbed the extra crossbow that he had, and that's when he taught Hunith how to use it. If he had to leave, at least she wouldn't starve.

The day that Merlin became Arthur's manservant, Merlin had shot an arrow in the attacker's neck, thus saving Arthur's life. When questioned about the incident, Merlin lied and said that he just grabbed the nearest weapon as he didn't want to see the prince die. Everyone believed him of course, as no one would expect a simple serving boy to be skilled in archery. Of course, no one knew about his magic either, so that was two secrets that Merlin kept from Arthur. The third secret was his skill in fighting with a dagger.

Since moving to Camelot, Merlin didn't have to hunt for food anymore, which if someone had told Merlin that he wouldn't have to hunt for food anymore, he would have thought that they had gone mad. He didn't have to hunt for food anymore, but there would always be a part of Merlin that itched to go on a hunt. He gets Arthur's breakfast from the palace kitchens, and that's when he walks into Arthur's chambers, slowly placing the plate on the table next to him as he slowly opened the curtains, letting the sunlight come into the room.

"Rise and Shine!" Merlin calls, to which Arthur groans in response.

"Come on, it's a new day!" Merlin calls. Slowly, Arthur opens his eyes, and that's when he slowly sits up.

"Oi! Don't you normally dress me first, before you give me breakfast?" Arthur asks with confusion.

"Well, if you insist sire." Merlin mutters, helping Arthur get dressed. Now that he was dressed, Arthur sits at the table, looking at his breakfast. When he realized that it was deer meat, Arthur's eyes widened in shock.

"Is that _deer meat_? Where on _Earth_ did you get it?" Arthur exclaims, excitedly biting into the meat. This deer meat was exquisite, whoever cooked it knew what they were doing.  
"The lower towns have a food seller that sells only animals that have been hunted. Deer meat was one of the choices, and so I thought of you." Merlin lies. The truth was he had gone out hunting. He didn't need to hunt anymore since he moved to Camelot, as the job pays enough for him to be able to buy food, but there's nothing better than hunting, well hunting and magic. Hunting was an activity that Merlin didn't need his magic for, that and defending himself with a dagger.

Merlin didn't know why he put up the charade that he was nothing but a helpless, serving boy, if no one saw him using his magic, then he would be free to use his skills with his crossbow, and daggers, but at this point Merlin was used to keeping secrets. He had to, magic is a death sentence in Camelot. Another thing, too, is the fact that he is a serving boy, and as such, he shouldn't be capable of hunting, or hand to hand combat, so he keeps that a secret too.

"Man, they really know what they're doing." Arthur says, chewing the deer meat. Merlin waits until he gets done eating, and once he does that, he takes the plates to be washed. Once he does that, he returns to Arthur's chambers to find him sitting up on the bed.

"I was wondering, are you planning on going on any hunts anytime soon?" Merlin asks without thinking. Arthur hadn't gone on a hunt in at least a month, and Merlin wanted to join him for this one. Merlin was tired of keeping the secret of his hunting skills. That was one secret he wanted to be rid of. He could never be rid of the secret of his magic, but surely two secrets were better than three?

"I was planning on it in about a week. Why?" Arthur answers with confusion. Surely Merlin wasn't suggesting that he take him with him on the hunt. What would he know about hunting?

"Because I was thinking that maybe I could join you, if that's okay, sire." Merlin answers. Merlin froze when Arthur put his hand against his forehead.

"Sire?" He asks with confusion.

"Are you feeling alright Merlin? You've never shown interest in going on a hunt before." Arthur asks with concern.

"Excuse me, you wouldn't let me go on a hunt. I offered to go many times, and you said no." Merlin reminds him.

"Alright, fine, you want to go on a hunt, we're going. Three days from now." Arthur scoffs. What had gotten into the manservant lately? Where did this intense desire to go on a hunt come from, and does Merlin even know _how_ to hunt? _If that idiot gets himself hurt, I swear._


	2. Chapter 2

It was now three days later since Merlin asked Arthur to go on a hunt. Arthur still didn't believe that Merlin could possibly know anything about hunting, but he seemed to be pretty adamant about it, so he decided to humor him. After going downstream, Arthur was surprised when Merlin suddenly dismounted from the horse without warning. Curious as to where he was going, Arthur decided to follow the servant. Merlin hides behind the bushes, pulling his bow out of the slit in his back. Merlin's bow was a wooden crossbow, with a silver, intricate design going from the string, to the middle of the bow. On the bottom was a smaller design, much like the one in the middle of the bow.

Merlin continued to hide in the bushes, patiently waiting for something to come along. Soon enough, a deer perked its head up. Carefully, he pulls the string back, placing an arrow inside as he prepares to shoot. Now that he was ready to shoot, he pulls the string, aiming an arrow at the deer's heart. Soon enough the deer falls over, the life draining from its body. Now that it was dead, he put his bow back, slowly walking over towards the deer. When he walks over to the deer, Merlin sees someone slowly walking towards him in the corner of his eye, a blade raised in preparation to attack him. Merlin grabs the blade under his sleeve, hiding it as he waits for his attacker to get closer. Once they were close, he grabs their arm as hard as he can, pressing the blade against the attacker's throat.

"Don't _move._ You do, I slit your throat." Merlin warns.

"You? Please. You're nothing but a _serving boy_. What could you possibly know about defending yourself?" The man scoffs, and that's when Merlin rips the man's sleeve, watching as the man became angry. After letting the man go, the man presses his blade against Merlin's.

"I'm going to _kill_ you boy!" The man shouts, aiming the blade for his heart. Merlin presses his own blade against the man's, and that's when a fight breaks loose. Both men were slashing at each other, blades clashing against each other as the battle continues. Arthur had just come down from the creek when his eyes widened. Merlin was currently in a battle with a man with black hair, blue eyes, and a black robe. The two were involved in a clash of blades. Soon enough, Merlin knocks the man to the ground, having taken the blade from him.

"Had enough?" Merlin smirks. Arthur couldn't believe what he was seeing. Where the hell could Merlin have possibly learned to defend himself like that? He was just a mere serving boy.

"I'll get you for this." The man growls, slowly getting up.

"Caldwell dear, if you were going to, you would have done it by now. I do grow tired of your little games." Merlin smirked, watching as the older man left the area. Now that Merlin was safe, Arthur runs over to him.

"Gods Merlin! Are you alright? Who was that guy?" Arthur asks.

"I don't know. Probably someone that thought that they could get a free meal." Merlin lies.

"I didn't even know that you could fight like that. Where on Earth did you learn it?" Arthur asks.

"Before I came here my mother and I slept in the woods. We were too poor to afford a house, so we lived in the woods. My father was a skilled swordsman, so he taught my mother how to defend herself. He left sometime after I was born, so it left Hunith to raise me by herself. When I was old enough, she taught me how to defend myself with a blade." Merlin recalls.

"How did you get your food?" Arthur asks.

"When I was thirteen, my friend Will had given me a crossbow. I didn't know how to use it, but I found a book on archery at the local library in Ealdor. I borrowed the book, and I studied it. I wasn't very good at it at first, but two years later, we never had to trade for food again. Before I came here, I gave the crossbow that Will gave me to my mother, and I taught her how to use it. I knew that I had to come here anyway, so I wanted her to at least be able to hunt for food before I left." Merlin answers.

"Is that a deer? Wait, you hunted that yourself? Damn, I'm impressed." Arthur states. Slowly, Merlin uses his dagger to cut the deer into pieces, and that's when he places it in his travel bag.

"There. That should keep us going for a little while." Merlin smiles.

"Why had you never told me?" Arthur asks.

"Tell you what?" Merlin asks.

"About your past. I barely know anything about you Merlin." Arthur answers.

"I was afraid that, if you knew about it, that you wouldn't want me to serve you anymore." Merlin admits.

"Why would you think that? So, your past was different than how I imagined it, why would that make me want to sack you?" Arthur asks.

"Because you'd think that I was a spy? Because no serving boy could do what I just did?" Merlin reminds him.

"Everyone has something to hide. Why would you be any different?" Arthur asks.

"So, you're not mad?" Merlin asks. Honestly, he was expecting him to accuse him of being a sorcerer, or a spy, one of the two. Arthur raises an eyebrow.

"Mad? Why on Earth would I be mad?" He asks.

"Most people when they find out about what I'm really capable of they don't react very well." Merlin admits.

"Tell you what, you train the knights and I in fighting with a dagger, and we'll call it even." Arthur chuckles. Merlin just stared in confusion.

"What? That's it? You're not going to yell? Call me a sorcerer? Say that I should be burned at the stake?" He asks, listing all the previous reactions he'd heard from people finding out his secrets.

"No! Where on Earth did you get such a ridiculous idea from?" Arthur asks.


End file.
